Ammunition chest



Sept. 19,1944. c. F. DUPEE AMMUNITION CHEST Filed Apri l' 20, 1942 Patented Sept. 19, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as

amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) 2 Claims.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to an ammunition chest for an automatic firearm and particularly to a strain relieving feed therefor.

Automatic firearms generally aresomewhat susceptible to ammunition feeding difficulties. The feeding mechanism of belt fed firearms, particularly machine guns, is further aggravated by the strain imposed on it from lifting long, heavily loaded belts of ammunition. It is desirable to have a large quantity of ammunition immediatel adjacent to the gun and fed directly into the gun. Thi is usually accomplished by loading the cartridges in belts and in turn loading th belts into ammunition chests by folding the belt back and forth in layers within the chest. These chests are then attached to the mount of the gun, and the belt of ammunition led from the chest to the gun. When a loaded belt of ammunition is fed from the ammunition chest to the gun, the loaded belt does not exert much pull on the gun because the portion of the belt between the chest and gun is comparatively short and light in weight. However, as the ammunition is expended, the unsupported portion of the loaded belt becomes longer and hence heavier, thus causing a serious drag on the feeding mechanism of the firearm.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved ammunition chest.

It is a particular object of thi invention to provide means for relieving the strain of a heavily loaded cartridge belt on the feeding mechanism of a firearm.

It is a further object of this invention to provide means for maintaining a uniform length of unsupported ammunition belt regardless of the amount of ammunition expended.

The specific nature of the invention as well as other objects and advantages thereof will clearly appear from a description of a preferred embodiment as shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a front cross-sectional view of an ammunition chest, constructed in accordance with this invention,

Fig. 2 is a side cross-sectional view taken along the plane 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is taken along the plane AA of Fig. 2,

Fig. 3 is a top cross-sectional view of Fig. 1 taken along the plane CC,

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view partly in section showing an alternate form of ammunition chest.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, there is shown an ammunition chest 1, comprising a hinged cover I6, means I! for latching the cover and an opening M in the side of the chest for an ammunition belt to pass through. Brackets 2 and 2a are suitably secured to the bottom 3 of the ammunition chest I. Parallel shafts 4 and 4a are mounted in. the brackets 2 and 2a. The gears 5 and 5a are securely fastened to the shafts 4 and 4a in intermeshing relation as by means of the set screws II and Ila. Torsion springs I and la are provided surrounding that portion of the shafts 4 and 4a respectively between the brackets 2 and 2a. One end of each spring 'I and la is fixedly secured by any suitable means to shaft 4 and 4a respectively and the other ends of springs l and la are secured to bracket 2a.

Mounted on each end of shaft 4 and 4a and secured thereto as by means of the setscrews III are the arms 9a, 9b, 9c, and 9d. These arms support a platform 8,. which is preferably formed of sheet metal and conforms in shape to the interior contour of the ammunition chest, it being slightly smaller than the interior however to permit free vertical movement of the platform within the ammunition chest. Depending slotted members I2 and in are provided on the lower side of platform 8.

\An opening I4 is provided in ammunition chest I for the emergence of a loaded belt of ammunition, means also being provided for guiding the belt out of the chest and for the reduction of friction as the belt passes thru the opening, as indicated by the rollers I5 and I511. The hinged cover l6 of ammunition chest I provides access to the interior of the chest. Any' suitable conventional latching means, as the catch I1, is provided for securing the cover when in the closed position.

In Fig. 4, wherein like numerals refer to similar parts as in Figs. l-3, there is shown an alternate form of ammunition chest. This chest differs from that shown in Figs. 1-3, in that the cover I9 is semi-cylindrical and houses a reel 20, which is supported within cover H] by shaft 22, A crank 23, and a handle 24 secured thereto, are provided on a projecting end of shaft 22 for turning reel 20. Displacement of shaft 22 from cover I9 is prevented by suitable means as the washer 25 and cotter pin 2 I.

Loading of the chest shown in Figs. l-3 is performed by opening cover l9 and folding a loaded belt of ammunition in layers on platform 8. The end of the belt is then passed thru openin l4 and into the feeding mechanism of an automatic firearm (not shown). In the alternate form of ammunition chest the belt is first wound about reel 20 to the full capacity of the reel by turning crank 23. The remainder of the belt is then loaded on the platform in the same manner as described for Figs. 1-3.

Prior to assembly of the strain relieving feed mechanism to the ammunition chest the torsion spring l and la are placed under suitable tension. The tension in spring 1a is such that the direction of the force exerted on shaft 4a will be in a clockwise direction, while spring I will exert a force on shaft 4 in an opposite or counterclockwise direction. Thus these forces act respectively on arms 91: and 9c, and 9a and 9d tending to keep the arms in an upright position, which in turn tend to hold the platform in an elevated position. The gears 5 and 5a act to maintain the same force and movement on each of the arms 9a, 5b, 9c, and 9d irrespective of whether springs I and la are of equal strength. It would of course be possible to use only one such spring. The arrangement described maintains the platform in a level position at all times. If one comer or side of the platform could assume an appreciably lower or higher position than another due to unequal loading, the loaded belt would assume an inclined position. Feeding of the belt from the .chest would then be uncertain a the belt would not meet the opening l4 squarely and the cartridges would jam on the side of the chest. By the use of the gears 5 and 5a therefore, movement of each arm is kept the same and the arms, when properly adjusted, will have the same vertical movement, hence the platform will always be level regardless of unequal loading.

When a belt of ammunition is loaded onto the platform 8, the weight of the loaded belt depressesthe platform, increasing the tension of spring 1 and 1a, and causes the arms to move along the slots l3 and l3a of the'slotted members l2 and In, which movement permits the platform to be lowered. As the ammunitionis withdrawn from the chest the load on the platform is lessened and the platform rises due to the action of spring I and la. Therefore, by suitable selection of initial spring tension, it is possible to maintain'the loaded belt at the same level Within the chest regardless of the amount of ammunition expended. As the ammunition within the chest is maintained at the same level, the feeding mechanism of the automatic firearm is not subjected to the additional strain of pulling a heavy belt of ammunition from the bottom of an ammunition chest. Thus a uniform minimum belt strain is maintained between ammunition chest and gun.

I claim:

1. An ammunition container comprising a base and side walls, a feeding opening at the top of one of said side walls, a platform vertically movable within said walls, said platform arranged to support a folded cartridge belt, a pair of parallel shafts rotatably mounted on said base, gearing means interconnecting said shafts, a plurality of supporting arms secured to said shafts, depending slotted members on the bottom of said platform engageable by said supporting arms and aspring arranged in the container to bias said platform upwardly towards said feeding opening.

2. An ammunition container comprising a base and side walls, a feeding opening at the top of one of said side walls, a. platform vertically movable within said side walls, said platform arranged to support a folded cartridge belt, a pair of parallel shafts rotatably mounted on said base, gearing means interconnecting said shafts, a plurality of supporting arms secured to said shafts, depending slotted members on the bottom of said platform engageable by said supporting arms, and a spring mounted around one of said shafts and arranged to exert a rotative bias on said shaft, whereby said platform is biased upwardly, said spring being proportioned so that the distance from said openin to the top layer of folded car tridge belt on said platform is maintained sub stantially constant and independento-f thelength of folded belt supported by said platform.

CHARLES F. DUPEE. 

